


If You Give a Shoggoth a Sweater

by PlagueDoctor31



Category: From Beyond (1986), Re-Animator (Movies)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Body Horror, Human/Monster Romance, M/M, Shoggoth Crawford AU, light nudity
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-14
Updated: 2020-08-15
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:54:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25904695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PlagueDoctor31/pseuds/PlagueDoctor31
Summary: Walking home one night, Dan finds and takes home an entity that's certain to turn his life on its head.
Relationships: Daniel Cain/Crawford Tillinghast
Comments: 4
Kudos: 14





	If You Give a Shoggoth a Sweater

**Author's Note:**

> AAAAAAAA okay admittedly I *adore* the idea of Monster!Crawford but I never found much opportunity to write it, so hopefully this'll be a a fun multi-chapter piece involving Dan and his new shapeshifting eldritch bf. I hope you all like it!! ^_^

It was a chilly night. Arkham seemed to _always_ have chilly nights, but it was especially chilly for Daniel Cain as he meandered down the sidewalk to head home. His head was still swimming from the alcohol he consumed, to the point where he didn’t even bother to take his car to the bar that night. Walking alone in the night air was therapeutic, in a way. Feeling himself shudder from the brisk air, his teeth chattering ever so slightly; it helped with the sobering process. To Dan, it was the best distraction he could find these recent months after everything ended.

An exhausted smile came to his lips, it really has been a few months. To him, it still felt like yesterday. That courtroom felt stuffy, and the starched collar of his shirt felt as restrictive as a noose. The pit in his stomach was ripping open more and more as he looked everywhere and everyone else except for _him_ , the one he condemned. With a few sentences and answers of yes, Dan had broken away from his chains, the chains lovingly placed on him by one Herbert West. However, the chains were gone. West was gone, and yet Dan did not feel free. His burden was now replaced with one of guilt, one of lingering emotions of past tragedies.

It all felt so heavy, and Dan came to a stop to lean against the brick wall of the building beside him. He hunched forward as he did so, feeling his stomach lurch with protest. Maybe he drank a little more as he thought. Wouldn’t be the first time, Dan spent too much time with his mind elsewhere. Seems to be the through-line of his entire life at this point. If he focused on the rational of the moment, and not looking forward to ideals and fleeting wishful thinking, would things be different? Dan liked to think so, and that made the hooks of regret tug harder in his insides.

A clatter up ahead interrupted the silent night, followed by the yowling of a cat. Dan perked his head up, his mind being taken back to his college days. It sounded so much like Rufus, yowling from down in the basement on that one fateful night. Dan stepped away from his wall of stability, and with slow steps he approached the source of the sound. It was more of a trudge, really, his legs feeling as heavy as lead as he put one foot in front of the other to make his way down the last couple of feet until he reached a gap between the building and the next one. He looked down the alley, seeing nothing but darkness and dumpsters.

Taking another step forward, Dan squinted into the darkness. A shuffling started up, and a voice in the back of Dan’s mind urged him to bolt. Arkham was full of old stories, spooky stories (Dan should know, he was in the center of one of them). Every time he listened in, Dan swore he heard at least three more stories he never heard of: whether it be someone going crazy, being attacked by a monster, or someone going crazy _and_ being attacked by a monster.

The clatter sounded again, and a small mass of black fur bolted from between the dumpsters and skittered out of the alley between Dan’s legs. He stumbled, trying not to accidentally trip over the little blur. The lurch in his stomach came again, this time stronger as Dan put a hand over his mouth. The weight on his legs gave out, and he let out a groan as he sank himself into a sitting position up against the wall. Dan felt tired, so tired. He was tired of the emotions, tired of searching for the distractions, tired of seeing his life snatched out from under him and leaving him all alone. He supposed that last one was to be his reward, or punishment, after all he’s done, all that he allowed to transpire.

Another shuffle cut through the silence, and Dan looked up expecting another cat to run out of its hiding spot. However, the shape was much larger, much more amorphous and unlike any animal Dan had seen in his almost 30 years of life. It seemed to simultaneously roll, crawl, and shuffle through the darkness. It stretched out towards the light with limbs and tendrils, the illumination from the street revealing the nothing but contradictions: Boneless yet articulate, fleshy yet gelatinous, rigid yet ever-changing. It folded in on itself and reached out with more and more limbs Dan didn’t even notice before.

Was this a dream? Did his mind finally snap and he didn’t notice until now?

Creases in the folds of the thing’s form opened one by one, blinking as each revealed themselves to be eyes large and small and of every color Dan could imagine. They darted around, like a stranger when arriving in a strange place, until they all came into focus on one subject: Dan. The shifting changed directions, and the thing reached out for him. Dan blinked for a moment as the thing grew closer. He could run. He could scream for help. However, he didn’t… feel like it. He was so tired of running from the consequences. If this is the end of the line, Dan took comfort in that he was one who chose to stop.

Something fleshy gripped onto his arm, almost like a hand, and Dan let his heavy eyelids fall as he allowed himself a smile of contentment.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dan awoke with a gasp, his eyes darting around due to not really expecting to wake back up. He was out of the night air, his back growing stiff from the hard floor underneath him. He rolled onto his side, his vision coming clear to the sight of the paint peeling on the plaster walls and light from the outside filtering through a window on the wall. He was inside? But how? Did some homeless drifter find him passed out and dragged him to their squatter’s den? Dan groaned as he rolled onto his back, staring up at the cracked ceiling. The thing really was a dream, and part of him was disappointed at this revelation.

There was a soft padding on the floorboards to his right, and Dan assumed it was the squatter coming in to check on him. He flitted through his rolodex of excuses. _Thank you, I had a little too much to drink earlier. Love to stay, but I need to get home. Rough day at work, but I have to go back tomorrow._ He opened his mouth to rattle off his chosen answer, but his voice did not muster forth as the squatter knelt down, allowing him a good look at their face.

Shaggy dark brown hair framed the small face, which was set with a pair of shining hazel eyes blinking with curiosity and a set of plump lips agape as he looked down. It was a face Dan was all too familiar with. It haunted his every waking moment, never too far away to stare at Dan expectedly, whether hovering over his shoulder, frowning or humming with approval or disapproval, or to stare dejectedly from across the courtroom in one last stubborn bid. Sure, his glasses weren’t present, but Dan knew the face of Dr. Herbert West anywhere.

“You!” Dan gasped out an exclamation. The whiplash of his discovery sent his mind spinning. How? The man was in prison! There was no way he could be here! Did he come back to Dan? Dragging him to this isolated location to get his undoubtedly calculated revenge? His heart beat frantically in panic, the last thing he wanted was his life to end by the hands of the one who ruined it in the first place.

He shot up into a sitting position, causing the man to scramble back on all-fours.

_Hold on. What?_

Dan stared at the man kneeling a few feet away, who stared back with eyes wide with equal panic. The light of the outside shone over his skin, giving Dan more than an eyeful for him to find the stranger to be completely bare, his smooth pale skin highlighted by the light of the outside and his back hunched defensively like some startled animal. It completely contrasted what Dan knew of the scientist before their partnership crumbled. West stood tall, peering through life with narrowed and precise glances and wrapped his feelings up just as much as his person, completely closed off and uninterested if they were desired by others. Dan could practically feel his mind slam on the brakes to process the new information: This person, who looks exactly like the man who turned his life into shit, is buck naked and crawling on the floor. Either this is some obtuse revenge fantasy that Dan managed to dream up, or this man wasn’t Herbert West after all. He opened his mouth, hoping for at least one of his ever increasing list of questions to come out.

“Who… How...?” Dan mustered out, reaching up to rub away the headache that was starting to form. The soft padding slowly approached, and when Dan slowly glanced back, he saw the man slowly returning to his side, brow furrowed with… worry? Dan wasn’t expecting that. The man reached out with a tentative hand, unclear if it was because he was scared or if he wished to not scare Dan.

Dan let out a heavy sigh, deciding to humor the man. What would be the harm? He leaned his head ever so slightly forward, feeling the warm skin of the other’s hand press against his forehead. It was a light feather touch, with skin softer that Dan would ever expect from a man squatting in an abandoned building. It was skin that felt untouched by the scrutiny of the world that would form calluses, and in a way it reminded Dan of the skin of an infant, who are equally ignorant of such hardships. His pulse relaxed, taking some comfort in the warmth of a kind gesture.

The hand moved, gently carding his fingers through Dan’s mane of brown hair. It brought Dan back to a simpler time, a gentler time. He’d done this gesture before, to someone he loved very dearly. They would lay together and she would go on and on about her day, and Dan would just lie beside her and gently play with her hair, delighting in just the presence of her at his side and the sound of her voice. Even now, memories of that made him ache and long for a time of things before, of “what ifs” that will now never come to pass. However, to feel this gesture done to him? Dan felt humbled. He felt unworthy of such affection, but the fact that someone chose to do this spoke volumes. It made his heart well up with emotion.

That is, until it was interrupted by the wriggling sensations of worms against his scalp. His brow furrowed in alarm and Dan drew back his head. The man was quick to retract his hand as well, and with eyes widening with horror Dan saw it. The man’s fingers were the worms, curling and moving every which way with no regard for what bones may have been within. It looked all too familiar, like the mass of tendrils that Dan swore he had dreamt up.

“No…” Dan voiced his denial, staring wide-eyed at the hand. The man followed his gaze, looking unfazed at the sight of his hand moving in ways in which it shouldn’t. He glanced up at Dan giving him a nod before doubling over.

It was as if the man was made of liquid, folding in on himself as his general shape began to melt before Dan’s very eyes. His arms disappeared, only to sprout out from what used to be the man’s back before twisting back and around like the arms of an octopus. Any trace of the person in front of Dan was gone, now left with the fleshy mass of something slowly rising and falling on the floor. The creases formed from seemingly nothing, opening up to stare back. The limbs moved idly, as if feeling for a sense of the creature’s surroundings, but other than that… it did nothing but stare.

“So I wasn’t dreaming…” Dan spoke softly, as if the mere confirmation will snap some unseen tension. Where was it? His mind? In this room? His sanity? Perhaps not the last one. He had seen enough death and monstrosities in his lifetime to no longer deny the existence of ungodly entities. The creature simply blinked, perhaps waiting for Dan’s move.

Dan paused, a thought coming to his head, “Wait, if you were that… that thing from the alley, how-- why did you like _him_?”

Dan gestured at his face for emphasis. The creature, in retort, curled up its limbs in apparent thought. A ripple went over its form and it moved, shuffling, rolling, and crawling its way across the floor to something laying haphazardly off to the side. A tendril changed into an arm, and it used it to toss the object in Dan’s direction.

It landed beside him with a small _thump!_ , and Dan looked down to see a small leather rectangle: a wallet. His wallet! He snatched it up, hoping that nothing was lost as he rifled through it. The cards were there, the little cash he had left was there, his driver’s license… Dan came to a stop, finding something out of place. It was folded up, and he had no recollection of it being there. He pulled it out, finding it to be a polaroid as he opened it up.

_”Doctor Cain? Doctor West? If I may,”_

_“What is it, Francesca?”_

_“I want to document my time in Peru, could I take your picture?”_

_“Ugh, how pointless. We’re in a warzone, Ms. Danelli, so act like--”_

_“That’s enough, Herbert. It’ll just be for a second. You can stand still for that long, can you?”_

_“Hmph, very well.”_

Dan had completely forgotten the photo existed, somewhere stuffed in the crevices of his wallet. It was of him and West in one of the tents deep within the jungles of Peru. The two of them looked haggard and exhausted, no doubt coming off of a night of intense humidity and endless surgeries. The two of them looked particularly shaggy, looking in-need of a pair of scissors. Dan looked up at the creature, realizing what it had done.

“You changed to look like him. Did you think he was my friend?”

The creature emitted a low vibration, a purr. Dan was going to take that as a yes as he slipped the photo back into his wallet. Out of sight, out of mind, and Dan much preferred to focus on the thing sitting in front of him over the painful memories of the past. Stashing the wallet away into a pocket, Dan could feel a bubble of nostalgia as he heard the scolding tone of his voice.

“Look, you can’t just go through someone’s things like that,” He hesitated, looking at the fleshy blob up and down, “Human or otherwise.”

The creature shuddered, curling more in on itself as the eyes squinted shut. Another vibration came from some unseen part of the body, this time sounding more of a whine. Whatever this was, at least the creature could understand Dan. However, his heart did ache a tad. It seemed to have good intentions, and if wanted to kill Dan it would’ve done so back in the alleyway. He recalled back to the mirror-image of West staring down at him. Those large curious eyes blinking, waiting for a reaction. The gentle hand reaching out to comfort him. Dan let out a soft sigh, finally mustering the effort to stand on his own two feet. He crossed the room, and tried not to hesitate as the creature shrank away as he approached and crouched down.

“You’re okay, really. I’m not mad,” Dan spoke softly and evenly, though unsure where to make eye contact as at least half a dozen eyes opened to stare up at him, “You’re trying to be nice, and it’s been a while since anyone has so… Thanks, I guess.”

With a deep breath, Dan slowly reached out his hand. He moved it forward, trying not to startle the creature before him. His hand got closer, inch by inch, until his hand made contact. He did his best not to shudder at the new feeling of contradictions: Neither hot or cold, solid yet liquid. The creature, meanwhile, was as still as stone, and Dan felt obligated to hold his breath for a few moments longer.

The creature purred, and Dan sighed in relief.

The smooth skin(?) of the creature began to soften, the fine texture of hair growing under his hand as the shapeless mound of limbs and eyes began to tighten around itself, growing smaller and a distinct form could be seen. Dan couldn’t help but marvel, for it was like watching a giant clay sculpture was being molded before his very eyes. The image returned, those familiar hazel eyes looking up at him. They glinted in the night ambiance, glinting in a way Dan’s never seen before. The creature may look like West, but he certainly didn’t _feel_ like West.

Dan couldn’t help but smile, and tried to ignore his heart swelling when the creature imitated the expression, following it up with leaning its head against his hand.

“Well, I uh,” Dan was reluctant to draw his hand away, “I’d probably get back. It’s a nice little hideout you got here, but I can’t really stay--”

As he got up, his explanation was quickly interrupted by the creature, man... thing grabbing a hold of his arm tightly. Dan winced in the surprise viceness of it, and noted as the grip quickly lessened. _Seem’s it’s not aware of its own strength._

The creature looked up at Dan, its eyes shining even more. He knew puppy eyes when he saw it, and Dan was certain that the creature was giving him puppy eyes. It didn’t help that the vibrations returned, coming out of its mouth and bordering on rudimentary vocalizations. Dan paused as he stared down. He didn’t really have the best track record when it came to selecting roommates, as if the past few years were any indication. And now he was considering a literal monster of staying with him! Dan pressed his lips together, a thought coming to his head:

_Who’s really the monster? This? Or the man who made patchwork abominations out of body parts in his spare time?_

Dan let out a hollow laugh. His bar was really that low, wasn’t it. He gently tugged on the creature’s grip, motioning his head to the side with a small smile.

“Well if you’re that determined, come on.”

The creature smiled a big toothy grin before using Dan’s arms for leverage to stand up on two legs. As it steadied itself, Dan realized a glaring problem as the light of the outside illuminated the creature’s pale bare flesh.

“A-Alright, well,” Dan let out a little cough of embarrassment, “We can’t have you going around like that, uh…”

He glanced around, hoping there was a blanket to use. Sadly, the room was indeed scarce of any coverings. Dan glanced down at himself, at his several layers he wore to combat the chill of the outside. His fingers dug into his lucky knit sweater. It was baggy on him, imagine how it would hang off someone as small as the creature standing beside him…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dan walked swiftly down the sidewalk, hoping not to draw any attention as he maneuvered the roads and side streets to find his way back home. He bunched his coat up tighter over his torso, as he was now down one sweater. It was currently worn like a dress on a determined looking shapeshifter that was clinging to Dan’s arm in support. Well, it looked more like a short _short_ dress on the creature’s more human-like form, as Dan slightly underestimated how tall it actually was. The sooner they get home and find this thing a pair of pants, the better. However, it was more Dan feeling embarrassed as he walked down the sidewalk, which he wasn’t sure if it said more about him or the creature when it came to decency.

Dan sighed, picking up the pace some more. He wasn’t exactly sure what he got himself into, but he was sure as hell that it’s unlikely that he can back out now.

**Author's Note:**

> Hopefully I'll be able to get chapters involving these two out, developing their relationship more and more over time! I hope you all had just as much fun reading it as I did writing it. If you have any comments or suggestions, please never hesitate in letting me know! ^_^


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